Protest over council tax

Protesters, angry at proposed changes which will see benefits claimants forced to pay more tax, greeted councillors arriving for a full council meeting this week.

Liz Potter, who heads up campaign group Derbyshire Anti-Cuts, and four fellow protesters held placards in front of Long Eaton Town Hall.

“We feel under attack by this council and by the Government,” she said.

“The poorest people are getting hit the hardest.”

Under the changes, currently out for public consultation, benefits claimants who are exempt from paying any council tax will have to pay at least some of their bill from April 2013. The move is in response to a cut in funding from central Government.

Another protestor and benefits claimant Martyn Crooks said that the changes to tax would mean that ‘thousands of people would not be able to meet basic needs’ because of the additional financial pressure.

Mrs Potter said they were also protesting about Cllr David Stephenson, who made a sick joke about dead police officers two days after two policewomen were killed on duty in Manchester.